First pastry chef at Antica Corona Reale, a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant in Cervere (CN)
Precision, focus, creativity disciplined by technique and good teamwork are all skills that make a difference both while performing a paso doble figure and while preparing a plated dessert. Clara Astegiano knows this well, at 19 she left international Latin dance competitions to focus on her other main passion, restaurant pastry. She started by attending hotel management school in pastry field of study in Mondovì, her native town, then she attended the Advanced Program in Pastry arts in CAST. After the internship in “Seta”, 2 Michelin-starred restaurant of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan and an experience in the Langhe of the “antica Corona Reale” that also has 2 Michelin stars, she moved to Sicily where she has been Demi chef for one year in “duomo” at 2 Michelin-starred Ciccio Sultano, on Pastry chef Fabrizio Fionari recommendation, known in CAST classrooms. She went back to Piedmont at last for an offer she could not decline, especially at just 22 years old: once again in “Antica Corona Reale” but as first pastry chef. Because life is like a waltz.
I learned that in work it’s important to have clear objectives, to avoid wasting energy and limit mistakes.
INTERVIEW
Which place does pastry occupy in your life?
Considering my age and the time and commitment that it requires, pastry is now my priority. Being young I have more flexibility in terms of personal and family needs, I use this part of my professional journey to cut my teeth in starred restaurants, perhaps looking forward to a future career in high level accommodation facilities, like luxury hotel chains. For a child that, although not gluttonous, used to stare enchanted at bakeries windows, as my mom told me, doing this job is a dream come true.
Who are your teachers or the ones you pay more attention to?
I owe a lot to the teachers I met in CAST, all of them, none excluded, because they contributed decisively to my training. I also owe CAST a special meeting, with Fabrizio Fiorani. I met when he took part of the jury in my Advanced Program in Pastry arts final exam; we kept in contact and after a while he asked me to become his Demi Chef in “Duomo” in Ciccio Sultano. Working with him has been an extraordinary experience, extremely formative. I admire mester Fiornos’ creativity, he’s always a step ahead in terms of innovation, modernity, and aesthetic geometric and rigorous sense, just how I like it. Then there’s Elisa, Elisa Fornasiero, chef de partie during my first experience at the “Antica Corona Reale”: I probably wouldn’t have started this journey if it wasn’t for her. Elisa has been my teacher and mentor; she trusted me, instilling confidence and awareness in me. She made me understand how much I am cut out for this job. There are also Nicola Di Lena and Marco Pienna from Mandarin thanks to whom I learned the importance of technique and precision: I remember the hours I spent composing, making and remaking a dish… it could sound extremely boring, today I understand all its value.
Do you have a style in the pastry, something that identifies you or that you favour?
I think my style could be defined as clean, precise, with a meticulous aesthetic and the use of well-balanced small quantities of ingredients. Based on these criteria, I think that in a plated dessert there should be a gluttonous, an acid a water part; this way the desserts remain light, easily digestible and not filling. The attention on small details is at the base of many traditional pastries inspired creations, but they reinterpret it in a more modern and innovative way. For example, All’Antica, that works on local cuisine I advise a “lagnarolo route” that encloses Piedmont in a dish: panna cotta, nougat, sweet salami, gianduiotto, hazelnuts, bunet, zabaglione, ugly but good… but I also added “Miele” to the menu, the dessert that most represents me and it’s made with honey, ginger, yogurt and a New York Sour revisitation, a frozen cocktail sweet version with whiskey granita and port wine zabaglione. All’Antica we pay much attention to sustainability, in the kitchen as much as in the laboratory, it’s also one of the themes that we like to highlight during the menu presentation. Therefore, only the short and very short supply chain (the restaurant has 2 gardens), waste reduction and no plastic materials. For my part i recover every dessert ingredient that perishes (like dried fruit) in a Carpigiani creamer for sorbets.
What are your memories of the time you spent in CAST?
It has been a fundamental milestone to start my career; in CAST I learned techniques and foundations of this craft that only a prestigious school can provide. The advantage of attending CAST, even though I attended hotel management school, is that it starts from basics, in a journey ranging from 0 to 100. It starts with a first lesson about the meringue (I will never forget it!) and once the course is done you will master all the tools you need to work. For me CAST is the Bible of pastry thanks to many, excellent teachers.
Where do you see yourself in a few years?
I certainly can’t see myself not working in a laboratory, better if one of a luxury hotel. I would like to become a pastry chef for a prestigious hotel chain and always look at the world from above, toward the stars… Michelin of course!
From next September our Advance Pastry Training course catering and pastry chef blends in the pastry one, to enlarge the range of skills so that the students will have more opportunities to make a conscious choice for their professional future.
